Vocabulary Workshop Level G: Unit 6

abject

abject

(adj.) degraded; base, contemptible; cringing, servile; complete and unrelieved

agnostic

(n.) one who believes that nothing can be known about God; a skeptic; (adj.) without faith, skeptical

complicity

(n.) involvement in wrongdoing; the state of being an accomplice

derelict

(n.) someone or something that is abandoned or neglected; (adj.) left abandoned; neglectful of duty

diatribe

(n.) a bitter and prolonged verbal attack

effigy

(n.) a crude image of a despised person

equity

(n.) the state or quality of being just, fair, or impartial; fair and equal treatment; something that is fair; the money value of a property above and beyond any mortgage or other claim

inane

(adj.) silly, empty of meaning or value

indictment

(n.) the act of accusing; a formal accusation

indubitable

(adj.) certain, not to be doubted or denied

intermittent

(adj.) stopping and beginning again, sporadic

moot

(adj.) open to discussion and debate, unresolved; (v.) to bring up for discussion; (n.) a hypothetical law case argued by students

motif

(n.) a principal idea, feature, theme, or element; a repeated or dominant figure in a design

neophyte

(n.) a new convert, beginner, novice

perspicacity

(n.) keenness in observing and understanding

plenary

(adj.) complete in all aspects or essentials; absolute; attended by all qualified members

surveillance

(n.) a watch kept over a person; careful, close, and disciplined observation

sylvan

(adj.) pertaining to or characteristic of forests; living or located in a forest; wooded, woody

testy

(adj.) easily irritated; characterized by impatience and exasperation

travesty

(n.) a grotesque or grossly inferior imitation; a disguise, especially the clothing of the opposite sex; (v.) to ridicule by imitating in a broad or burlesque fashion